


He's a Charmer

by flowersalesman



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Coming Out, DMAB Frisk, Gen, HARDCORE SOUL SEARCHING, Non-Binary Frisk, kind of, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-31 05:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6458452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersalesman/pseuds/flowersalesman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>None of the monsters ever seemed to notice he was a boy. Everyone always called him "they," or "kid," or "human," and not once did they ever assign a gender to him. The problem is... he's not sure if they're wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's a Charmer

**Author's Note:**

> i always see non-binary frisk depicted as them always knowing what they are, and even though sometimes young kids are able to know for sure what gender they are that's... uh... not usually the case. especially when you're only ever presented with two options. (maybe if i ever heard of the term "non-binary" when i was a kid i wouldn't have gone through as much grief as i did lol)
> 
> i place frisk at around 12 when they went through the whole underground thing if that helps.

When he was around seven or eight, a woman came to their school and gave them a speech. Frisk can't remember what her job was. He can't remember her name. But he did remember the speech she gave.

"People born as girls can realize that they are actually boys," she had told them, "and people born as boys can realize that they are girls."

This caused excited chatter around the room, some full of disbelief, and others full of declarations of what their parents told them. Frisk noticed a couple of kids who stood out in the conversation, kids who either seemed unusually happy about this and others who seemed distant and unwilling to say anything. These were the ones who steadily transitioned from dolls and dresses or legos and shorts to something they were more comfortable with. They were, as the woman said, "transgender."

When she was done talking Frisk walked up to her and asked if he was tansgender too.

"It's pronounced transgender, sweetie," she said kindly. "And that depends. Do you think that you are a girl instead of a boy?"

He made a face. Of  _course_  he didn't think he was a girl. They probably had cooties. But he didn't want to be a boy, either.

Is there another thing I can be? he asked her. Do I have to be a boy or a girl?

She said yes. He had to choose between the two.

So from then on, Frisk assumed that he was wrong, or overreacting, or maybe he just wanted to feel special. He was a boy. There wasn't any other option.

He ignored how much he hated being called Mr. by some of the older teachers, or how he was automatically put into a category of football and kickball and baseball and every other kind of ball, or how whenever he heard people talking about him it would be all  _he_ and  _him_ and  _his._ It felt wrong. He didn't like it. But he was a boy so he had to suck it up and not cry. He was just imagining things.

But one day, he was told to go outside and play, or he ran away, or he was abandoned- he can't remember. It doesn't matter. Either way, it led him to Mt Ebott.

Flowey was the first thing Frisk encountered, and though he treated him just like all other monsters in a manner it was Toriel who truly set the precedence. She called him "my child," and never really treated him one way or another. All monsters were like that, he discovered, but it was a shock to flirt with Toriel and hear her say that he was  _interesting_ rather than  _charming_ and  _going to break every girl's heart._ When she showed him his room it wasn't blue or green and the bed sheets were neutral instead of having sports or car designs. The really cool toys in the bin were equally boys and girls toys, even though he had no intention of playing with barbies any time soon.

It was... nice. Refreshing. He appreciated the lack of expectations.

And those lack of expectations continued.

Sans and Papyrus called him human, and instead of all the hes and hims it was they and their and it continued with Undyne and Alphys and even Mettaton, though Mettaton always called him  _Darling,_ but Mettaton called everyone  _Darling._

No matter what monster it was, whether they were trying to kill him or whether he was flirting with them, they just treated him as A Human rather than A Boy.

But... now that they're on the surface, and he's living with Toriel, he probably has to tell everyone the truth now.

"Uh, Sans? Can I talk to you?"

Sans put down the joke book he was studying and looked at Frisk. He fidgeted. This was going to be awkward.

"sup, kid? whaddya want?"

"Um. It's just that. Everyone keeps on calling me, like, 'kid,' or 'human' or whatever."

Sans raised an eyebrow. He's still trying to figure out how a skeleton could do that, but maybe he should just stop questioning skeletons in general.

"is that a problem? are you implying that you're neither a kid or a human?"

Speaking of skeletons, it's so... interesting... how they could, like... eat and stuff. Yes. Incredibly interesting. Frisk would've thought that food would go right through them, but it just goes to show what he knows.

"No, it's just. I'm a. Well, everyone keeps on calling me 'they,' but that's not right. I'm, uh, I'm a boy."

Sans's eyebrow (eyeridge?) went back down. He'd start pondering on how strangely emotive Sans is, except he can't tell what exactly he's emoting now. He just has a weird look on his face, and it makes Frisk feel kind of... sad. Or something. He isn't really sure.

"you, uh, you sure about that kid?"

"...Yeah. I'm sure. I'm a boy. Nothing else."

"...whatever you say."

Frisk leaves feeling worse than when he walked in. He still has to tell everyone else, too. He doesn't even know why he feels this way and he hates it.

\---

Toriel gave him a weird look too. Papyrus seemed concerned, for some reason. Undyne acted about as awkward as he did and it was a horrible conversation all around. Alphys began to blush at some point and apologized. He feels so, so horrible.

Things went back to the way they used to, mostly. His friends would sometimes stumble but they always called him "he." Whenever he ate a large meal someone might comment on how he's a growing boy who needs food (though it was never anybody close to him). Sometimes people would mention on how he should start getting involved in sports, because he's a young man with a lot of energy who's probably going to start dating soon.

Sometimes, Frisk wonders if he should've said "yes" when the lady asked him if he thought he was a girl, because maybe it would've been more bearable than being treated as a guy. Then he remembers how girls wear makeup and skirts and they giggle constantly and smell sweet and thinks that, no, okay, he never wants to be anything resembling a girl ever.

Maybe his family starts to notice how down he's feeling, because they start to hug him more often and ruffle his hair every now and then (his hair is starting to go past his shoulders, he probably needs to get it cut soon, that might get miscellaneous monsters to remember that you don't call people "they").

Despite everything, Frisk misses the time when monsters and some humans didn't know that he was a boy. It doesn't make sense, there still isn't any reason he should feel this way, but sometimes he thinks about how they seemed to assume that he was somewhere outside of being boy or girl and he really, really wishes it were true.

He has to start reminding himself that you had to be either a boy or a girl. That might not be the case with monsters (MK didn't seem to be either) but humans were different, and he was a human, not a monster.

One day, in health class, his teacher says that they're going to start a new topic and makes everyone raise their right hand and swear not to laugh or giggle or make fun of anything being taught. Frisk hopes that this isn't like the sex ed lesson. That was a nightmare.

Instead, she brings up the word  _transgender._ Oh. This is familiar.

He's not really interested in learning about this again, though. Some people who are born boys are actually girls, and some people who are born girls are actually boys. Big deal. He doesn't want to listen to this.

The teacher's lecture did start out like that, but it took... a different turn.

"'Transgender' simply refers to people whose gender does not align with their biological sex," she said. "Most of you already know this to apply to trans- men or women, but can anyone tell me what 'non-binary' means?"

No one raised their hand.

"Frisk? Can you tell me? I know it's fairly normal around monsters."

Currently, monsters and humans were segregated, which was something most people protested and are trying to change. Which is why, currently, Frisk is the one who theoretically knows the most about monsters at the school.

He sinks down in his seat and slowly shakes his head in response to the question. The teacher blinks in slight surprise.

"Oh. Well. To explain, our society lives under what is known as the _'gender binary.'_ What this means is that we operate under the basis that there are only two genders- male and female- even though there are, in fact, many more than that."

what.

"'Non-binary' is referring to people who identify as something outside the male or female binary. It is primarily an umbrella term for things like agender, bigender, genderfluid, and many others, though it is still perfectly okay to simply identify as non-binary."

She went over pronouns, which included "they," and definitions of some of the genders she listed before.

Agender specifically stuck out to him.

 _Not having gender._ It seems... nice. Fitting.

They felt the suffocation in their chest lessen.

* * *

It was super awkward to have to tell their friends that they might have actually been wrong about this whole "boy" thing, but surprisingly enough, everyone seemed to take it better than before.

Undyne grinned her big grin and ruffled their hair and called them a punk. Alphys, who was there too smiled kindly and patted their shoulder. They were invited to watch Ouran High School Host Club with them the next week.

Frisk told Papyrus and Sans after that, and also Asgore, who was with them for some reason. Asgore smiled goofily and gave them one of his big bear (goat?) hugs. It felt great. Sans winked and Papyrus offered to make celebratory spaghetti.

They saved their mom for last, because they needed to ask her something.

"Hey, uh, mom?" they said, after telling her that they took back the whole boy thing.

"Yes, dear?"

"So. Um. How did everyone, like, know?" Wow. They really needed to learn communication skills. Toriel looked confused.

"Know what?"

"Everybody already seemed to know that. I wasn't really. A boy." That is still a super awkward thing for them to say and they needed to get used to that. It still felt pretty nice, though.

Toriel smiled at them. "Frisk, don't you remember your time in the underground? You may not have been able to recognize it from within yourself, but we all saw your soul. We all know you."

That is a frustratingly cheesy answer.

"Then why did everyone play along when I said to stop calling me 'they?'"

Toriel got a strange look on her face. "Well, I don't mean to speak for everyone, but for me it was because I do not have any right to tell you what you are. When you said you were a boy, even if I assumed different, I accepted it and complied to your wishes because that is what you wanted, even if it ended up not being true."

They felt angry. "Well, if you knew that I wasn't actually a boy, why didn't you just _say_ so? Why didn't _anybody_ say so?"

"Because, my child," she started gently, "like I said, it is not our place to tell you what you are. That is for you to figure out yourself. Our only role in regards to this is to listen and accept what comes."

That sounded like wisdom. They felt like they were supposed to learn something.

Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Who knows. The conversation was over by then.

After that, life was so much more bearable for Frisk, now that they were being called by the right pronouns again. It felt even better than it did the first time, now that they know it's actually right, and they don't feel guilty for feeling like they're deceiving anyone anymore. Everything is so much lighter than it ever was before.

All in all, it's pretty great.

 

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: i researched gender for my senior project. the conclusion i came to was "gender is weird as fuck and there is so much variation and nuance to it for literally every single person that it's ridiculous how we operate under the premise of two genders." but that's not the conclusion that i wrote in my research paper, in case you were wondering. (seriously though gender is so confusing??? like i can't even explain it here i'd take too long going over how weird as fuck it is. i still don't understand it.)
> 
> my undertale blog is at flowersalesman.tumblr.com if you wanna hit me up sometime. i get lonely.


End file.
